I think Steve Schmidt encapsulated very well what what Democrats need to push everyday

[Hortensis]

17. He's moderate conservative by PERSONALITY and

most likely moderate traditional conservative POLITICALLY and almost certainly (the norm for all of us) holds a range and goulash of values and positions that overlap with liberalism and especially progressivism.

As for what conservative IS, political psychologists, philosophers and historians say conservatism is above all an emotional reaction to change and differences, typically negative, without an intellectual basis to adhere to. W wasn't just woofing when he said he consulted his gut. (That's very unlike liberalism with its very old and entrenched intellectual foundations and evolution.)

Bill Buckley: "A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop..."

Abe Lincoln stated the essence of the contribution traditional conservatism brings to government. Mid-century conservative scholars like Buckley tried to create and embed in the Republican Party -- but they lost that battle and the party to the RW extremists.

"What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?"

As those like Schwartz say, they didn't change, the Republican Party left them. More specifically, those who took it over are socially and/or religiously hard-to-extreme right and also extreme right/laissez-faire/kleptocratic economically. In the process of taking the party over, they purged traditional conservative values and practices that obstructed their plans to remake America to suit them. And developed the potential for authoritarian obedience and targeting of hostility to divide and conquer the electorate.

Which brings us to today, when thoughtful conservatives like Schwartz have had to accept that the changes to the party weren't something its voters would throw off and resolve for themselves. Under extremely bad leaders, most changed too in the mass societal pathology that's developed.